COHEN: Does Hockey East Have the Best Goaltending in the Tournament?

Boston University has Jake Oettinger. He’s the highest drafted goalie in the bunch. He was drafted with the 26th overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft. People forget he’s only 20. He already had a U18 gold medal and bronze plus a U20 gold medal before he was drafted. Playing with the NTDP gave him additional notice and currently, he’s the #1 goalie at Boston University. He had a .924 save percentage this season but he still had some ups and downs the same as the entire team.

In 2017-18 he was a Hockey East Champion; Tournament MVP and he made the All-Tournament team and a bronze medal in the U20s. He did start the 2019 playoffs with an impressive 3-0 shutout over fourth-ranked U-Mass Lowell. He made an impressive start with a 25-save performance. That was one of his ups. The next game was one of his downs. In the second game, he gave up six goals and only made 19 saves. Goalies are expected to be the pilot of their team but sometimes a team just doesn’t do enough in front of the goalie and that is the case with Boston University.

Northeastern has Cayden Primeau. He was drafted by the Montreal Canadiens with the 199th overall pick in 2017. He was the last goalie taken in the draft. There were only 18 picks taken after him in that draft. Now, look at him. In 2016-17, he won a gold medal for Team USA In the U18s and he was named an all-star as well.

In 2017-18, he was voted to the Hockey East all-rookie team, the first all-star team, he was named Goaltender of the Year, he was a D-1 all-star and Rookie of the Year in New England too. How did he follow that up?

In 2018-19, he won his second consecutive Beanpot. He won the Eberly Award as best goalie and was the tournament MVP. There was a collision in net, and he stayed in the game and he made some spectacular leg saves that helped his team win. He’s trying to win a third consecutive Beanpot next year. Something that the school has never accomplished.

In this year’s playoffs, he helped his team sweep Maine in the first round with two wins of 2-1, one in overtime. He made a total of 74 saves in the series sweep and 12 in the third period of the second game. He’s still 19. His future is very bright.

Boston College has Joseph Woll, The American-born goaltender was drafted by the Toronto Maple Leafs with the 62nd overall pick in 2016. Another NTDP graduate, he won a bronze medal at the 2015-16 U18s, besides having the best save percentage and goals against in the tournament.

In 2016-17, he was on the Hockey East all-rookie team and got honorable mention for the all-star team. He was a part of Team USA’s gold medal winning team at the U20 World Junior Championship in that same calendar year.

He has been a horse this year for a mediocre Boston College team. He played in 34 games with a .915 save percentage. He’s so flexible and capable of stopping multiple shots. He got a big 4-3 win to extend the playoff series against Providence.

U-Mass Lowell has Tyler Wall. The New York Rangers drafted him in the sixth round in 2016. That year his team was Hockey East champs. Their fans never talk about him but in UMass Lowell, he’s revered. At 6-3, 202, He hugs the post well, his stick is hard to move and he doesn’t give up bad rebounds.

This season in 21 games he posted a 2.16 goals against average with a .919 save percentage. Already down 1-0 to Boston University he stood strong, he did give up four goals but he made 27 saves to extend the series.

Massachusetts has Filip Lindberg – This Finn is the least tested, least talked about goalie in Hockey East! He rose from Junior-C to Junior-A and won numerous awards in Finland including Best Goaltender in 2016-17, first-team all-star, a silver medal just in that season. In 2017-18 he won a Scholastic Player of the Year Award and then in 2018, he won a gold medal with Finland at the 2019 U20 World Junior Championship.

In his first season with UMass, he played in just 12 games and he had a stellar 1.63 goals against average with a .932 save percentage and an 8-2 record including a recent playoff win. The 6-0, 187-pound netminder is undrafted, and even though this is a small sample size, He has a quick glove even up high and tight and he’s very fast post to post. No matter how his season ends, he’s had a hell of a season already.

This is a talented group. They’ve had success on and off the ice. Hockey East fans are used to top-notch hockey but this kind of goaltending is impressive for as long as it lasts.